dunmurderin: A clownfish, orange and white, with a banner saying he is NOT a Combaticon!  So no one mistakes him for one, y'know? (Default)
[personal profile] dunmurderin
Author's Note: Takes place between "Fatigue" ("Exhausted Combaticons") and "Clean Up" (aka "Bath-Time Combaticons"). Story is set sometime in the late 1980s in the fictional country of Generistan.

Edited to switch "Scrapper" for "Hook" -- anybody who read the original, that wasn't Scrapper, that was Hook's body talking with Scrapper's voice. Damn animation glitches... Thanks to Beckyh2112 for the characterization assist.

# # #
“Children.” Hook watched with disdain as the Combaticons clustered together, huddling around Blast Off. Vortex, Brawl and Swindle were all talking at once, their voices caught up in the winds blowing across the Generistan plains. “Ridiculous behavior.”

“They missed him,” Scavenger said, pausing in his inventory of a crate of supplies. “They’re happy to see him again. What’s so ridiculous about that?”

Hook turned slowly, but Scavenger still flinched. “They’ve only been apart for two months.” Hook kept his tone as gentle as he could while still showing his full contempt. “And since they’ve had radio contact, it’s not as though they were really apart. Such theatrics seem overmuch considering the circumstances.”

Scavenger made a noncommittal sound and turned back to his inventory. Hook turned back toward the Combaticons, just in time to see Swindle grinning as he took a mock swing at Blast Off. Brawl and Vortex roared with laughter, the smaller chopper leaning against Brawl’s side for support. Onslaught watched the scene, his optics glowing brightly. He seemed unusually happy and relaxed, despite his team’s lack of discipline.

“Foolishness,” Hook said.

“I remember when we were like that,” Scavenger said, quietly.

“We were never like them.” Hook looked back, horrified at the suggestion. “Never.”

“We were,” Scavenger insisted. “Before.”

“Before what?”

Scavenger shrugged, optics flashing. “Before we joined the Decepticons. Before the Robo-Smasher. Before we destroyed Crystal City. Pick one, Hook. We used to be able to just be happy in each others’ company.”

“No.” Hook put the full weight of his authority behind the word, catching Scavenger’s optics with his own. “Granted, we were young once, but we were never young like them, Scavenger.”

They stood staring into each others’ optics. A change in the wind’s direction allowed them to hear part of the Combaticons’ conversation.

“C’mon! Admit it!” Swindle said. “You got bored not having us around.”

“Hardly,” Blast Off snorted. “Two months without your antics was barely enough time for me to relax.”

“Well, your vacation’s over now, Blasty!” Vortex giggled, his feet lifting off the ground as his rotors spun excitedly. “We’re outta this rathole! Right, Ons?”

“Indeed,” Onslaught said. “As soon as Hook clears us to leave, we can begin our extraction.”

“Look at them, Scavenger,” Hook said, pitching his voice to carry over the sound of joyous whoops from the Combaticons. “They’re thugs. Jumped up mercenary opportunists. The only reason they’re alive is because like calls to like and Starscream hoped to benefit from their treachery. If they are destroyed, they can be replaced -- by drones, if necessary.”

“We, on the other hand, are Constructions,” Hook‘s voice fairly rang with pride. “We are the finest technical minds in the Empire. Our skills make us indispensable. Without us, there would be no gestalt technology, no undersea base. No Megatron -- at least, not as he is now. We are better than they are, in every single way that matters. Do you understand, Scavenger?”

Scavenger looked down at his feet. “Yes,” he said, his bucket-tail thumping nervously against the ground. “You’re right, Hook. You’re right.”

“Of course I am.” Hook walked away, moving toward the Combaticons. “Onslaught! Clear your team out of here, we no longer need you distracting us.”

(no subject)

Date: 2006-08-29 12:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sapphirebreeze.livejournal.com
Ah, I like this. Rather sweet. I'm inclined to think that there are still times when the Constructicons can be happy with each others' company... but Hook would certainly be loathe to admit it, and even less likely agree that the Constructicons were 'like them.'

I didn't see the Scrapper version, but yeah, those lines definately fit Hook better.

re

Date: 2006-08-29 07:13 pm (UTC)
ext_9605: A lungfish with the caption "Where are my eggs benedict?" -- because animals asking for strange food is funny! (Default)
From: [identity profile] dunmurderin.livejournal.com
Sweet? Not the term I'd have used, but cool 8) What's sweet about it?

Dun.

Re: re

Date: 2006-08-29 07:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sapphirebreeze.livejournal.com
The Combaticon interaction, and just their whole being so pleased because Blast Off came back.

Re: re

Date: 2006-08-29 07:50 pm (UTC)
ext_9605: A lungfish with the caption "Where are my eggs benedict?" -- because animals asking for strange food is funny! (Default)
From: [identity profile] dunmurderin.livejournal.com
ahh! Ok! Gotcha!

Dun.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-08-29 10:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lunatron.livejournal.com
Like Jess, I am a sap who tend to think that the Constructicons do care. Scavenger gets drippy in canon, after all. However, people often point at an opposing group and insist that they're completely different and then do just the same thing that they said they don't do, because it's different if they do it! So I think this works. Also, this does sound much more like Hook than Scrapper. Good call. Overall, I like it!

re

Date: 2006-08-29 10:35 pm (UTC)
ext_9605: A lungfish with the caption "Where are my eggs benedict?" -- because animals asking for strange food is funny! (Default)
From: [identity profile] dunmurderin.livejournal.com
Thankee!

Dun.
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